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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Housekeeping and home maintenance
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
I think this deserves a thread of its own.
This morning I woke up to find the the large mirror in my private bathroom has fallen down - ripped itself from its moorings, so to speak. Not shattered, yet. just ruined the vanity it was above.
It was installed 10 years ago, as part of a major renovation by the building owner, before he sold it off to me.
In the other bathroom, the mirror, as I can attest, was installed 27 years ago, and is still chugging along merrily.
Auggh. I will have to pay someone to clear up and repair and do all that stuff.
Before I sell this place, it will have to be spic and span. Auggh again.
I don't mind routine maintenance, but honestly!
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Dormouse
Glis glis – Ship's rodent
# 5954
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Posted
This is something that I hate - even the thought of weilding a paintbrush makes me shudder! Last summer Mr D repainted the whole downstairs room (a big room!) because I was in the UK working & earning money while he was at home being unemployed. I think he felt a bit guilt. I was thrilled! (about the painting, not the unemployment!)
Now he is gainfully employed we are hoping that in a few months (or at leastby next year) we will have amassed sufficient savings to pay people to come and rip out the bathroom and make it beautiful - because it's way beyond both our capabilities.
Up till then we will liove in our beautiful but shabby 19th century town house and do very little towards its upkeep ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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What are you doing for Lent?
40 days, 40 reflections, 40 acts of generosity. Join the #40acts challenge for #Lent and let's start a movement. www.40acts.org.uk
Posts: 3042 | From: 'twixt les Bois Noirs & Les Monts de la Madeleine | Registered: May 2004
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
We have what is known, I believe, as 'clay heave'. Our property doesn't subside, it just....flexes - creating a recurring line of plaster cracks along ceilings and over doors. In addition, there is paint and plaster damage along one side, probably due to lack of maintenance on the other side of the party wall. Two cracked window panes need to be replaced - as does, I suspect, all of the bedroom windows. The front door is flaking, the hall and stair carpet hardly bears thinking about, and the garden is a jungle.
And due to all the recent stravaiging around Canada, the family funds are not in the best order.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Pearl B4 Swine
Ship's Oyster-Shucker
# 11451
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Posted
What is this "housework" of which you speake?
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Oinkster
"I do a good job and I know how to do this stuff" D. Trump (speaking of the POTUS job)
Posts: 3622 | From: The Keystone State | Registered: May 2006
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Zacchaeus
Shipmate
# 14454
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pearl B4 Swine:
What is this "housework" of which you speake?
I think it lives somewhere with a strange thing i've heard of called ironing..
Posts: 1905 | From: the back of beyond | Registered: Jan 2009
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Yangtze
Shipmate
# 4965
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Posted
I am in denial about the state of my windows. The frames need to be looked at, repaired and repainted.
And then there's the exterior paintwork generally.
Plus the painting of woodwork in bathroom and toilet. Plus re-painting the kitchen. And replacing a bedroom carpet. And the security light needs to be fixed. And the really ugly glass in the front door replaced and the door repainted.
And so on......
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Arthur & Henry Ethical Shirts for Men
organic cotton, fair trade cotton, linen
Sometimes I wonder What's for Afters?
Posts: 2022 | From: the smallest town in England | Registered: Sep 2003
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
Altogether now ...
quote:
This ole house is gettin' shaky
This ole house is gettin' old
This ole house lets in the rain
This ole house lets in the cold
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
heh. We live in an 1890s cottage and are currently failing to:
a) paint the outside window ledges;
b) replace the freakin' useless rain gutters installed by some idiot who didn't understand that the purpose of a gutter is to lead to a DOWNSPOUT, at least more than rarely;
c) fix the patio where the sand has washed away;
d) repair the concrete on the porch;
e) pay somebody to tuckpoint the stone basement, as a big chunk of mortar has fallen out and is probably the reason a pipe froze inside this year.
hateHATEhateHATEhateHATEhateHate
Meanwhile, the inside paintjob stalled when I lost my job (followed by assorted crises and emergency surgery) and my dear dear mother emphasized the fact by hanging an Easter egg from a loop of painter's tape over the kitchen door...
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Landlubber
Shipmate
# 11055
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Posted
My house feels like the Forth Rail Bridge used to be.
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They that go down to the sea in ships … reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man
Posts: 383 | From: On dry land | Registered: Feb 2006
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
Altogether now ...
quote:
This ole house is gettin' shaky
This ole house is gettin' old
This ole house lets in the rain
This ole house lets in the cold
I'm glad that people of a younger generation are familiar with that.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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daisymay
St Elmo's Fire
# 1480
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Posted
And our home for some reason, stopped getting anything to heat water, was anything unable to do things, cook, washing, and also stopped getting the computer having something to be in. It got fixed a little on Monday and then it went down again and Thursday a man worked all day and it is much fixed now, and I have to do lots of cleaning and sorting things back to where they are, He shipped lots around - and he's coming back next Friday to do more work and so I have to leave things he left.
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London
Flickr fotos
Posts: 11224 | From: London - originally Dundee, Blairgowrie etc... | Registered: Oct 2001
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
quote:
heh. We live in an 1890s cottage
How I can feel your pain! For over thirty years I lived in a two storey mid-Victorian house built about 1880.
The problem is that fixing one thing involves so many other bits and pieces.
I was the glazier and painter. Replacing glass meant chipping out putty a century old. Primer around frame. Ooops, the frame is coming apart and needs cramping and gluing.
Glass is then replaced and window frame needs scraping, sanding, priming in spots and then a couple of coats of paint before being replaced in aperture. While about it, check the cord holding the window weights. If this is not done, the cord will break just a day or two after everything has been [put back in place.
And any repair was just the same.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
You got it. [goes squiggle-eyed] Hey, that means you know how to fix it ! [Looks around for butterfly net to carry you off in]
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Don't get me started. Our house is (we think) somewhere in the region of 120-130 years old and, like most of the houses round here, wooden.
Our front steps and deck were getting very delapidated, verging on dangerous, and D. found A Chap to replace them while we were away for my mum's funeral. He did a good job of it and, as we'd come into a little spare cash, we got him to replace the horrid "slider" windows with nice sash ones, and replace the front wooden siding, which he was to do while we were on holiday later in the year. While we were away, he died suddenly and we came back to only one window done and the place looking like a building site.
A neighbour who's a builder and general handyman offered to finish the work for a price we could afford, and with one thing and another, he's still at it, two years later.
Oh yes, and something fairly major went wrong with the plumbing in the bathroom on the top floor, necessitating replacement of the floor. He's supposed to be coming to work on that tomorrow - I'll believe it when I see it ...
Sorry - end of rant. One day we'll have everything sorted and looking nice, but I'm not holding my breath.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
The family home I grew up in has been sold and the money divided between the adult chidren. As a large part of the decluttering has been done, so I am catching up on the maintenance I couldn't pay for whilst I was paying the mortgage.
So far the list is;
New heatpump, (tick)
Security screen door, (ordered)
New catches on all the windows so they will be draught-proof,(tradesperson has been rung)
new shower and lining of the bathroom (it started with new taps, but the basin fell apart necessitating a new vanity) and shower has had a temporary fix since it was damaged in the quakes,(awaiting the builder who works with the plumber to come back from his holidays)
Total house re-wiring - it's 57 years old and needs this for safety reasons, (I have the electrician's contact number),
Re-hanging of all the pictures I took down for safety reasons, awaiting the framer of the 3 new ones,
If I have any money over I may recarpet my bedroom as moths or carpet beetle have de-piled the old carpet.
Sometimes I can hear my mother's voice making approving noises, but I am kind of exhausted at the thought of all those blokes in my house (I think the only woman involved will be one of the electricians).
After all that I will probably be broke, but the house will be warmer.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Ethne Alba
Shipmate
# 5804
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Posted
Yup, another one here whose household maintenance stopped when the employment did likewise
Posts: 3126 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
Well the guy came to look at the mirror today - a chance remark led me to mention that the mirror had only been in place for 10 years, but the other bathroom mirror had been chugging along for 27. That one is beginning to slip as well, as he pointed out.
So now, I have two mirrors to re-glue and re-place.
Oh, and while he was at it he gave me a bill for tap work and repainting study.
He's gonna retire early, that guy. On my pension.
[ 12. May 2014, 20:59: Message edited by: PeteC ]
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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mark_in_manchester
not waving, but...
# 15978
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Posted
quote:
Yup, another one here whose household maintenance stopped when the employment did likewise
I'm kind of looking forward to my temp job ending soon - all exterior windows / woodwork need repainting on our 100 yr old pile. There's a lot of it. It really needs it. Not doing it will either become an even more time-consuming woodwork job, followed by more painting, or something unthinkably expensive. Unemployment is an opportunity in my case - I have some sandpaper and I already bought the paint. A year ago!
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"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)
Posts: 1596 | Registered: Oct 2010
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
It's raining and my roof is leaking - again, Blokes came this morning and said it needed sealing, which I had actually asked their firm to do several weeks ago ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
Huia - not very happy with the service (or lack of)
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Friendly neighbour/handyman-type person came over today and made quite a lot of noise*, and he and D. are going to the hardware shop in the morning (I hope) to get flooring for the upstairs bathroom.
* I can't see much difference, except that the bathroom seems to have less floor in it than it had ...
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002
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Posted
We have to go to the megashed that Mr. S refers to as Bert and Quentin's, to get yet another piece of batten for the Roman blind I've made, to replace the Roman blind that used to fit inside the bedroom window.
The only reason I had to replace that blind was that we had the windows replaced* and there was no way to replace the blind on the new window - I was Not Pleased as that blind was only a year or so old *sigh*
Why does one thing invariably lead to another?
Mrs. S, shaking head in disbelief
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Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'
Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
At least with David directly involved there is less room for stuff-ups.
I rang up Paul, the boss of the roofing company and politely asked when my roof was going to be sealed. After some muttering about dates they had done work on my house he said they didn't have an order from their salesman for the roof to be sealed, only moss proofed. I pointed out that the roof hadbeen moss proofed a couple of months ago, so why would I be asking for it to be done again? I had asked them to seal it, and they hadn't done it, now I have this leak which may not have been there had they done what I asked (at this point I became less than polite, in fact I totally lost it and demanded they come and seal it as soon as it stops raining (if it ever does).
At that point I hung up the phone because I felt we were getting nowhere.
Later in the afternoon Paul rang back, very apologetic. He had checked with the salesman whose diary note said I wanted the roof sealed but he had filled in the wrong line in his order book, so could he come over so I could sign up again? As I don't have any weapons on the premises it was quite safe ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
The upshot is that they are going to do "lap sealing" which is more expensive and more thorough, but the are only going to charge me the lower rate for sealing. Quite frankly if I had known lapsealing existed I would have asked for it in the beginning, I'm totally paranoid about the roof being leak proof after a bad experience with our family home.
I rang the office again and left a "I'm sorry I lost it and thanks for putting it right" message for Paul.
If it's not raining tomprrow they will come and do the job. Fingers crossed.
They are usually a reliable company, but I guess anyone can slip up.
After the salesman I gone I had a bubble bath to recover ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) .
Friday the bloke comes to quote for fixing catches on 10 windows. I will carefully read his order book before he leaves.
Huia
[ 14. May 2014, 06:49: Message edited by: Huia ]
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
At least with David directly involved there is less room for stuff-ups ...
It doesn't stop Neighbour/Handyman being ill though.
![[brick wall]](graemlins/brick_wall.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
My friend who is the great fixer of house stuff (and who-strictly coincidentally-always has a chore list when he visits, bless him) says mom's rotted house logs can no longer wait and MUST be replaced. Which will cut into my building fund. However, it would be terribly tacky of me to have a nice new little home across the yard from my aging mother's pile of rubble.
I have no idea how one replaces cabin logs. And the Friend-Who-Fixes is booked until October with jobs he actually gets paid for. Which I think is terribly selfish of him.
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by comet:
I have no idea how one replaces cabin logs. And the Friend-Who-Fixes is booked until October with jobs he actually gets paid for. Which I think is terribly selfish of him.
Yes - he probably wants to eat occasionally, greedy thing! I have a friend like that and he's really helpful in translating what the other tradies say, I am now learning house construction as a second language.
Tomorrow this friend and I are going to look at bathroom tiles to act as a splash zone around the top of the bath. I would like a few picture ones, but I need to see what's available. This is much more fun than the lap joints in the tiled roof.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Things are beginning to happen chez Piglet. As it was a nice day yesterday Bill came over and got the outside stuff (which has been on hold for over a year) almost finished, and it looks great. As it's an even nicer day today, the outside painting might be done by the time I get home from w*rk.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I have to replace my front door. Actually the entire thingy, the side lights, the frame, everything. It's going to cost a fortune.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
That sounds like a big job Brenda.
Well looking at tiles was boring . No picture tiles at all, a few coloured - but as for the rest 99 shades of grey would sum up the stock in the 4 places we visited. I was snootily informed that they were imported from Italy. I suppose they were elegant, but elegance wasn't what I was looking for. I was hoping for bright and cheerful as my bathroom doesn't get much light, being on the south side of the house (Northern Hemisphere people - think of a north facing bathroom). Actually for that kind of elegant look to work the bathroom needs to be spacious, which mine isn't.
I'm really disappointed, but I am on the trail of a woman who handpaints tiles whose work I last saw 5 or 6 years ago. If I can't find her I'll go for something else decorative. Why should bathrooms be boring?
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Such a shame that you are so far away, Huia, as picture tiles seem very "in" over here at the moment.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
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What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Pity they don't import tiles from Portugal.
I've seen quite a small bathroom done with these and pale terracotta paintwork and it looked terrific.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Chocoholic
Shipmate
# 4655
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Posted
We have had a problem with the hinge on our loo for several years now, it kept coming loose and we just got used to a rather wobbly, sometimes coming off loo seat. As we have a pale pink loo (coloured bathrooms were very in once upon a time, but this against pale grey tiles still looks quite good), it is almost impossible to get the matching hinge blocks now.
I've tightened and reattached it countless times but a couple of weeks ago decided to glue the hinge rod into the ends, and it seems to be holding so far! It was quite a novelty to sit down and not hear a clonk or feel a wobble! I do wonder if the hinge rod will snap at some point if it can't move but hey, I'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Choccie (feeling quite pleased with her handiwork)
Posts: 773 | From: London | Registered: Jun 2003
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
Huia - can you order from Etsy down there? I find they have everything. especially stuff I didn't know I wanted but now NEED.
have a look here.
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
I know I'm going to sound like a bit of a bore, but for a small, north (in your case south)-facing room I'd want white tiles/walls, as uncluttered as possible, to reflect as much light as possible.
But that's just me - I am a bit of a bore.
Things are progressing a bit here - downstairs is now just about presentable, and Bill says he'll have the top-floor bathroom sorted really quite soon (maybe even tomorrow).
Maybe ...
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Comet they are lovely, as are the Portugese ones Firenze posted, but I converted the price to $NZ and, combined with postage, I'd have to take out another mortgage to pay for them.
One of the helpful people in a tile shop told us that someone in Oamaru 4 hours drive south of here makes tiles so my helpful friend tracked down an exgirlfriend who lives there to see if they had native bird tiles. They do, and what they don't have they can make. ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif) I'm going south next weekend to see.
pukeko are one of the species I want.
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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